Security high for Spurs in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — This being his first trip south of the U.S. border, the Spurs’ Matt Bonner arrived in the Mexican capital this week with big sightseeing plans.

Before tonight’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Palacio de los Deportes, Bonner plans to hit all the tourist attractions that can be found within a 100-foot radius of his bed.

“I’m going to try to experience as much of the culture as I can without leaving the hotel room,” Bonner said, “because we’re not allowed to.”

With parts of the country besieged by drug-related violence, NBA security has advised players to remain in the vicinity of the team’s downtown hotel during their downtime in Mexico.

For a first-time visitor like Bonner, trips to Chapultepec Park and Aztec Stadium are probably out. If he gets particularly brave, he might venture on a sightseeing tour of the lobby bar.

“I’m going to be glued to the bus window to and from the game,” Bonner said.

The Spurs are trying to treat their trip to Mexico City as just another preseason game, a difficult feat with their hotel on virtual lockdown.

When the NBA first announced this exhibition in July, the three-year Mexican bloodletting — which according to one government estimate has resulted in 22,700 deaths — was in full brutal swing, and Spurs officials privately raised safety concerns with the league office. The league has promised a beefed-up security presence at the game, which is expected to attract a sellout crowd of 20,000.

With most of the drug violence confined to nine Mexican states, most of them hugging the U.S. border, the danger in Mexico City proper is relatively minimal. According to recent statistics, the murder rate in Washington, D.C., is four times greater than that of the sprawling Mexican capital.

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, who is from Argentina and frequently vacations in Mexico, said he had no qualms with playing a preseason game in Distrito Federal.

“I don’t think we are going into a war zone,” he said.

Tonight will mark the 19th NBA game played in Mexico City, regular-season or exhibition, more than in any location outside the U.S. and Canada. The Spurs appeared in the first, losing to Dallas in a preseason game here in 1992.

As a Latin American, Ginobili relishes the opportunity to play in a Spanish-speaking country.

“All Latin American people, we kind of relate to each other,” said Ginobili, the most popular player among the Spurs’ Hispanic fan base. “There are a lot of Mexicans who come to the States, trying to succeed. Every time there is a Latin that has some kind of success, they relate to them.”

Fans at Palacio de los Deportes tonight shouldn’t expect to see too many of the Spurs’ regulars for too long. One veteran — forward Antonio McDyess — has been excused from the game altogether.

For coach Gregg Popovich, this game is about evaluating his younger players with a series of roster cuts looming.

“Especially the first couple of games are the young people’s time,” Popovich said. “Let the vets get a little bit of a rhythm, but we still need to make some evaluations, and you can’t do that without giving them minutes.”

Though his Spanish is basically limited to words found on a Taco Bell menu, Bonner has been looking forward to the trip.

He has no plans to solicit Ginobili’s help in translation — “I don’t trust him,” Bonner said — but might lean on rookie Tiago Splitter, the Spurs’ other fluent Spanish-speaker.

Even if he never wanders past the front door of his hotel except to play basketball, Bonner plans to make the most of his visit.

“Obviously, they’re sheltering us a bit,” he said, “but I’m going to try to see what I can see.”